I actually thought there was an announcement not long ago about artdink making a smartphone version of their Macross games. As for the 3DS, the Gundam Battle game that was ported to it didn't do so hot.

IMHO, despite a lot of people considering, and some even trying to make a game (or a Macross-themed mod to an existing game), all of the projects I have observed stopped before completing a game.

Why? They have all been too ambitious. (Understandable given the requirements of the genre - at least 3 modes for each VF, just for starters!)

So, my suggestion, to whomever opts to make a Macross-themed game: aim small.

My recommendation is (and this came to me after brainstorming: what would be a fun, relatively easy to make game) basing it on a game that I'm enjoying immensely at this time: Cactus McCoy. Instead of a cactus man, it's a giant Zentraadi (or VF-1 in battroid mode). Instead of the badlands of Mexico (or wherever), it's the wastelands of the Earth, after SWI.

Sure, it may not be the latest or greatest VFs, and it's only one aspect of the Macross universe. But it's a place to start, and build a team with the skills to make even greater games. The best thing about it is, it's achievable in a relatively short time frame.

I wish I had the skills, time and motivation to create the game I'm suggesting... nevertheless, I hope the fundamental advice is taken: aim for a game that's achievable in a short time frame (Macross tetris doesn't look so bad now, eh? Though, probably a Macross themed Puyo-Puyo game would be a bit more satisfyingly original).

I have always dreamed of a Macross game that would be a mix of Colony Wars (so we could fly next to really giant ships in a vast open space) and Heavy Gear 2 an old but quite realistic mecha game. Adding the ability to leave the Valkyrie to go through the corridors as an infiltrating pilot would make an awesome game. Though it would require a very strict level design, it could really bring something amazing.
Imagine yourself wandering in the fully reconstituted Macross SDF1 talking to the inhabitants, then going to the hangar, choosing a random Valk equiping it with the desired armaments for a little drive outerspace (or exploring a Zentradi spaceship). That would be some RPG!

Problem with that would be that you really wouldn't have access to any random Valkyrie if you were in a Macross crewmember sim, only your assigned one. And wandering around a Zentradi ship out of the cockpit would be a pretty pointless endeavor.

For legal reasons, if you wanted to make a fan game, it would probably be neccessary to have the mecha and ships that are "stock" be original (do you REALLY want a C&D from Harmony Gold for including something with the word "Macross" or the fighting kite logo? Let alone the mecha designs thay insist they have sole NA rights to in perpetuity...) and leave adding every Macross mecha ever to modders. If nothing better was available, I even have some models that could be adapted - thumbnails ahoy!If you follow those back to Imageshack and poke around the gallery there's another (the Drachenjager) that is also tagged as "macross" but its polycount is around 3x these two, and it was modeled from a frankenmech that used bits of official line art. There's also a lot more views of them. Ah, and the Skate's super armor has a bunch of beams rather than missiles, becauce it's meant to have a Varauta-style gravity lens device in that big chest compartment, so it can bend them into itano circus tracking the target rather than needing physical missiles. The sword is just a scaled-up version of the VF-25's Barrier Knife, and is loosely based on something from one of the Air Cavalry Chronicles designs in Macross Design Works. I do have another original variable fighter design that hasn't been postedd, but these will suffice for my purpose here, more pics can go in the fanart area.

I've written a handful of design docs for a Macross game, and have tried to kickstart (Not on kickstarter) a few mods too. The problem is always a lack of programmers and no unified vision.

What I wanted to do was give everyone what they really want: The feeling of piloting a transforming fighter. The problem is, Macross can be shoehorned into many different genera. But in my opinion, Flight Simulator is the only one that makes sense.

Though my vision is probably not in line with what most people would want. My design doc calls for:
*A game based on Macross, not Robotech. But just like Robotech was a 'mod' of Macross in some ways, the final game could be converted easily.

*DCS level realism getting as close to reality as possible while maintaining Macross-like dog-fights.

* First person, cockpit based to include simulation of avionics, radios, mechanical systems and the like. From here, more arcade like modes could be devised, with the underlying simulation providing realism.

I can model, texture, mix sound, music, write, essentially do everything needed to create such a game, but until I find a programmer who shares my vision, my life-long Macross project goes nowhere.

Though my vision is probably not in line with what most people would want. My design doc calls for:

*DCS level realism getting as close to reality as possible while maintaining Macross-like dog-fights.

Any my longtime dream is probably even less in line with what most would want than you're thinking.

I want to actually have a true VF simulation - that is, truly running in the vein that real simulators run, not as games run. There would be an absolute emphasis on realism - okay, as real as we can get after injecting the not-quite-so-real OTM. That would still mean that portraying some of what we see in the series/films wouldn't really be possible - and thus why I think many would not care as much for the route I prefer to take.

In an ideal world, I'd get some hardware to go with it as well. With the ever-increasing 3D printing tech these days, though, having some appropriate MFD bezels and HOTAS housings done up might not actually be out of the realm of possibility.

One of these days I'll find time to get back to working on what I have started before. Possibly this winter, as my other hobbies naturally die down during that season. One of the big roadblocks on my efforts ever amounting to anything is that I basically want nothing to do with graphics any more - that is, I no longer have any interest whatsoever in working on a 3D engine or related efforts. (Which is a huge change in position from where I was less than 10 years ago.)